Education is Kamatche’s priority

The newly elected Sabai state assemblywoman also wants to create awareness among women of their rights in this political environment

PETALING JAYA: Newly elected Sabai, Pahang state assemblywoman D Kamatche has vowed to give education a major priority in the rural constituency.

The Pahang DAP Wanita chief said Barisan Nasional (BN) which ruled Pahang since independence had failed to satisfy the needs of the rakyat in rural areas, especially in terms of education.

“The government spends millions of ringgit on schools in urban area but schools in rural districts are overlooked,” she told FMT in an interview.

“Children from rural areas are studying in schools which are badly maintained. In terms of education they are also left behind compared to children in urban areas. Both infrastructure and quality is missing in rural schools,” she added.

She also said children in rural areas, especially the Orang Asli children, do not even attend school and only 10% study up to Form 5…while other drop out. This has to be looked into. My  mission is to ensure all schools in Sabai are in good condition and are on par with urban schools,,” added Kamatche.

She plans to have special tuition classes for children from this rural constituency with emphasis on English.

“Unlike urbanites, these people cannot pay for their children to go for tuition. Most of them are living below poverty line,” she added.

Meanwhile, Kamatche also pledged to reach-out and empower women to realise  true potential.

“My objective is make women aware of their civil and political rights…they should also be actively involved in politics,” she said.

Kamatche made a maiden attempt to win the seat in 2008 but was defeated. However, she made a strong comeback in this election to whisk the seat from MIC’s new candidate R Goonasakaran with a slim 117 vote majority.